Cam grip flat conductor connector

ABSTRACT

An electrical connector primarily for flat conductor cable uses a spring-loaded cam to provide backup pressure between a conductor of the cable and a contact in the connector.

United States Patent 2,720,634 10/1955 Hart Norman Welburn Watford,England 765,221

Oct. 4, 1968 May 18, 1971 AMP Incorporated Harrisburg, Pa. Oct. l2, 1967Great Britain 46563/68 Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented AssigneePriority CAM GRIP FLAT CONDUCTOR CONNECTOR 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 339/217, 3 39/ 274 Int. Cl II01r 9/08 Field of Search 24/249(PP), 249 (FP), 134; 339/95, 97, 98, 99, 244, 248 (S), 217, 273, 274;339/95 (D), 217 (S) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTSl'hIII-II'IIIIIAVIA Primary Examiner-Marvin A. Champion AssistantExaminer-Robert A. Hafer Attorneys-Curtis Morris and Saford, Marshall M.

Holcombe, William Hintze, William .1. Keating, Frederick W. Raring,.lohn R. Hopkins, Adrian J. LaRue and .lay L. Seitchik ABSTRACT: Anelectrical connector primarily for at conductor cable uses aspring-loaded cam to provide backup pressure between a conductor of thecable and a contact in the connector.

Nix

Patented May 18, 1971 I NVENTUR NORMAN wnLBURN `ferrule for connectionwith a further conductor.

1 2 CAM GRIP FLAT CONDUCTOR CONNECTOR FlG. 3 shows a cross-sectionalview of thie third embodiment in connection with a conventional wirecoi'ductor.

This invention relates to a connector for making a connec- Referring nowto FIG. l, the connector comprises a housing tin t a Surface Of aCOlldllCtOl' 0f flat Strip material. l of insulating material having twopassageways 2,3 in which The connector is particularly designed forconnection with 5 cams 4,5 respectively are positioned, Eh cam isrotatably a conductor of a ribbon-type cable, Le., a cable having a, ora mounted on a pivot post 6,7 respectively molded in the Piiireiii'y 0fiiai Conductors embedded iii a fiat insiiiiiiiiig passageways. The cams4,5 are formed by stamping them from Covering materiai- The ediidiietdrmaterial is iisiiaiiy a COPPei' sheet metal, such as copper. The cam 4is a contact cam and foil in such cables. However, the connector is notlimited in its has an integral fermi@ 8 which is crimped Omo a wirecohducappattidiitd die riribdii'iypedeabies rid es; be Used) i0 iiiiaigei0 tor 9 which enters the rear of the passageway 2 ofthe housing C0 C Wia Sii ace CO UCOr Qi'm dii a. Oar y l. The cam Sis a backu ressure camand requires no ferrule. printed circuit or allied techniques.Furthermore, the connec- Both cams 4 5 are Spggg loaded by res'pcrivSprings 11,12 ribassista:mais;gasista wir, eg'zrdeeareofir os`n lanteu'drsiesote'cams. eeectote Ribboii'iype cabie conductors areiioi ablei0 .ha-"e edrmee' i5 spriinlgsglLlZ is to birzisethe cams to rotatetowards the center tiene mede t0 diemby Convieiiiioiiai teiiiiiqi-iesdfoideriiig 0r of the lioisin'g, and,r when no conductor is present, thetwo Crimping Siiiee die eeridiieioi' is iisiieiiy 0f d fregiie iiaiiire-T0 cams'a're ir`i"enga'gement. FIG.v 1i shows a ribbon cable in con-Ovei'cme this coiiiiectrs havqbeeniievisd W have e nectioniri Thecablecomprises a foil conducplllurality gf teeth lwhich arel:zvlausedlbya wegdgll'lgactionto b lt 2O tor embedded between twollayers of insulatingV material iooigii d e msu aiioiiifof t e .cfab e,arid info die edridiieioi'- l5,` 1 r6.A To make'a'conrie'ction, theinsulation l5 is stripped e. isa vantage ofi is type o coniitfi' is thatOItCe Oii' fror'rjorie side of the endv of thecable and the conductor 14icg ilitshbeten Rade 31 cabi? eiiid .it ceimot ix; ieaiii'withiiiisulation 1 6 is inserted :through an opening I7 in the toTheonlnegilorclf zlinoiine'cttioerilisTol beplreesrirdilgaiiirberdffiiqznii ,0f-f ii-msi-ngiLAslthef .Stripped en-d .of the cabi? meetstimes a limit on the amount of cable available ma be yiicoiirithei-iifa?9i. the cams gwitzhcamdiwipiiigiy iigi-igiiig con' terediTh t t 1 d, dductor 14, they arewpushedkaway 4from eachother loading thetepisifigvgiigggcgng toisbeisa van t aiid 'l1'12'. With the conductor 14fully inserted against a i, a. connec. aii 'lectrical continuity existsbetween gisrtinntclted magy mes without the need for a fresh cable thol-)dut'orl 1.4 thrigha cam 4. The Opposing sur-Angobjectpdfrthleeinvention is to provide aconriecto for 30. faiigsdfthe-emile may be serrated thereby increasing their ie' f t n 'vecharacteristics'.4 making a connection to a ,Surface'of-a iqoiiductoiOf-iiai 'Strip e llii'e to the actiori 0f thspiilgi-loaded cai-ns, if aforce is ex- O' ing in a wall of the housing through whichthe condiictor4 be passed to'ma'ke contact with thecontact and' aJ spring-loaded cammounted in the hoilisi'rgand arrange td urge the conductor intoengagement with the" contact member. Another object of the invention isthatl the on'ta'ct ase. l`his is on account of frictheconductorandcam'surfaccs pulling the cams r'with the aid of the springs and thusincreasingth'ei 'Cds effect lf the'conductor 14 is to be purposelywithdrawn, the cams 'Cuib-i,- 40 4`5ca`ri bei'biased away from thecenter by the insertion of may either separate from thecam or @ring-Pariif-, tools into the passageways 2,3. Alternatively, the Preferably, thecontact member includes an integral crimping i an. bfe modied byproviding them with ams extending e housing which can be lifted manuallyto'release the fr.' Flihe embodiment of FIG. l can be further modifiedplif'ied by dispensing with the cam 5 and allowing the conductor toengage the side of the housing on one side. ln siicli a modification,the cam 4 is used for both electrical contact and wedging of theconnector. A less positive retention of the conductor is likely thoughthan with the illustrated embodiment.

Turning now to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2,

A further object is that the cam is preferablyarranged so as to presenta minimumforce on the conductor'whe'nfmovcd iri the direction ofinsertion of the conductor into' the" l'i"ousiig" and a maximum force onthe conductor when moved ina direction opposite to the direction ofinsertionJThe surface of the cam is preferably such as to enable it tomake a grip ori the' conductor, and this may in one embodiment, be 5()vachieved by making the surface serrated.`

An additional object is that the housing may alsoinclude" means forenabling the cam to be lifted against the force ofthe iiiej iiiiiiec-toicompi-i955 a musing 2i of moided piasiic insu' spring to releasepressure on the conductor and to enable it to iatiiig maieifiai having apasageway 22 one wail of ltiie be withdrawn easily from the conductor.passageway is molded to provide a front and a rear shou der v i i i. don a ost Other objects and attainments of the resent invention will 2324respeiiyeiy1A aii i2 5 is ioiaiabiy moume p become apparent to thoseskilled initheut uponua reading of 26 arid Provided Wiiii a biasingSPi'iiig 27- Surface 25a 0f the the foiiowingtdoraiiod description whenraken in conjunction Cai iS Sfratd 1 provide @Petter grip 0n the back ofa with the drawihgs ihwhc'h there are Show'and dscbed printed circuitboard inserted in the connector. This printed lustrarive embodiments ofthe ihvemiom' it is to b un 60 circuit board is formed of aninsulatingboard 28 having a deis'tood, however, that these embodiments are notintended primed eii'ciiit Conductor 2? o Onesuhface' 22 Th to beexhaustive nor limiting of the invention but are given for A Contactmember 30 is inserted .iri e passageway is purposes of illustration inorder that others skilled in the art C Oiiiaei member is 0f a bowedShape and is formed from a may fully understand.the invention and theprinciples thereof SPririg Conductive meiai- Tiie from edge 0f diemember etiand the manner of applying it in practical use so that theymay gageS iiiefroiii Siidiiider 23 and a -rearwardiy eiiieridiiig'iarieemodify it in various forms, each as may be bestsuite'd to the 3 1engages die rear Siidiiider 24 tdioek die member i iiie conditionsofaparticular use housing. The member 30 has an integral ferrule 32 whichis Three different embodiments 0f `a connector in accordnc crimped toawire 33. ln operation, the printed circuit board is with the presentinvention will now be described, by way of exinserted iIltO tileQOIlI'teCtQl' through a front SiOt 34 0f the hOUS- ample only, withreference to the three FlGS. of the accoming 21. The printed circuit 29slides overthe bowed surface of panying'drawing. In this drawing:thercontact 30 in a wiping manner and giving an abutting con- FIG. lshows a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment tact. The cam 25 isrotated away from the contact member 30 in connection with a ribboncable end; as the board is inserted. When the board is in position, thecam FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the second embodi- 25 underthe action of spring 27 presses the circuit 29 into ment inconnection'with a printed circuit board; and 75 good electrical contactwith member 30. The serrations of serrated surface 25a on the cam 25grip the back of the board 28 and prevent the dislodgement of the boardor its accidental withdrawal from the connector.

The third embodiment of a connector is illustrated in FIG. 3 to whichreference is now made. Here contact member 30 is similar to that shownin FIG. 2 and fits in a housing 36 in a similar manner. The samereference numerals are used for these similar parts in FIGS. 2 and 3.The cam 37 is, however, formed integrally with the housing duringmolding and the plastic material is chosen to be such that the cam 37 isresiliently connected with the wall of the housing 36 by a web 38connected to one end of the cam. A V-spring 39 is fitted in compressionbetween the cam 37 and the wall of the housing with one end of thespring located in a hole 40 in the wall of the housing 36. Surface 37aof the cam 37 is serrated, as in the previous examples, to improve thewithdrawal forces. The conductor in this embodiment is a solid varnishcovered wire 4l which has been stripped of insulant at its end 42 andflattened to form a tab` This tab is pushed into the connector throughopening 43 causing cam 37 to flex away from the contact member 30 andbend about the web 38 compressing the V-spring 39. The contact member 30wipingly makes contact with one side of the tab 42 of the conductor andis pressed into good Contact therewith by the action of the spring 39acting on the cam 37.

Although in the three examples just described a different type of n'bbonconductor is used in each one, it should be appreciated that theparticular type of conductor is not peculiar in its use to the connectorwith which it is described but may be used with any connector` lt will,therefore, be appreciated that the aforementioned and other desirableobjects have been achieved; however, it should be emphasized that theparticular embodiments of the invention, which are shown and describedherein, are intended as merely illustrative and not as restrictive ofthe invention.

l claim:

l. A connector for making electrical connection between a side of an endportion of a flat cable and a contact member, comprising a housing ofinsulating material having a through passageway, a resilient contactmember and a spring-loaded cam extending longitudinally of thepassageway and mutually urged into abutting relation, the contact membercomprising a contact spring bowed towards the cam between its ends whichare held against shoulders formed in a sidewall of the passageway, aslot extending inwardly from one end of the passageway in alignment withthe interface between the contact member and the cam for reception ofthe end portion of the flat cable, means for limiting the extent ofinsertion of the flat cable into the passageway, the contact memberhaving a lead connecting portion extending outwardly of the passagewayaway from the slot, reception of the end portion of the flat cable inthe passageway tending to urge the cam and contact member apart.

2. A connector for making electrical connection between a side of an endportion of a flat cable and a contact member, comprising a housing ofinsulating material having a through passageway, a resilient contactmember and a spring-loaded cam extending longitudinally of thepassageway and mutually urged into abutting relation, the contact membercomprising a further spring-loaded cam positioned on the opposite sideof the passageway to the first mentioned cam, a slot extending inwardlyfrom one end of the passageway in alignment with the interface betweenthe contact member and the cam for reception of the end portion of theflat cable, means for limiting the extent of insertion of the flat cableinto the passageway, the Contact member having a lead connecting portionextending outwardly of the passageway away from the slot, reception ofthe end portion of the flat cable in the passageway tending to urge thecam and contact member apart.

1. A connector for making electrical connection between a side of an endportion of a flat cable and a contact member, comprising a housing ofinsulating material having a through passageway, a resilient contactmember and a spring-loaded cam extending longitudinally of thepassageway and mutually urged into abutting relation, the contact membercomprising a contact spring bowed towards the cam between its ends whichare held against shoulders formed in a sidewall of the Passageway, aslot extending inwardly from one end of the passageway in alignment withthe interface between the contact member and the cam for reception ofthe end portion of the flat cable, means for limiting the extent ofinsertion of the flat cable into the passageway, the contact memberhaving a lead connecting portion extending outwardly of the passagewayaway from the slot, reception of the end portion of the flat cable inthe passageway tending to urge the cam and contact member apart.
 2. Aconnector for making electrical connection between a side of an endportion of a flat cable and a contact member, comprising a housing ofinsulating material having a through passageway, a resilient contactmember and a spring-loaded cam extending longitudinally of thepassageway and mutually urged into abutting relation, the contact membercomprising a further spring-loaded cam positioned on the opposite sideof the passageway to the first mentioned cam, a slot extending inwardlyfrom one end of the passageway in alignment with the interface betweenthe contact member and the cam for reception of the end portion of theflat cable, means for limiting the extent of insertion of the flat cableinto the passageway, the contact member having a lead connecting portionextending outwardly of the passageway away from the slot, reception ofthe end portion of the flat cable in the passageway tending to urge thecam and contact member apart.